LCCE Announces 2020–2021 Season

Yesterday afternoon, Anna Presler, Artistic Director of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (LCCE), announced plans to go ahead with the group’s 2020–2021 season while honoring current shelter-in-place constraints:

Left Coast is looking forward to our 28th season of concerts, presenting great works new and old from the chamber music repertoire. We are currently planning to broadcast all performances online, but have structured our season so that we can add in-person events as soon as it becomes safe to do so.

As in the past the season will consist of five programs, all of which will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Monday evenings. Specifics for on-line access have not yet been announced. In all likelihood the information will be provided prior to the performance on each of the event pages. Also as in the past, programming will combine adventures selections from the past history of music with more recent works, including premiere performances. The dates of the individual concerts, along with hyperlinks to the event pages, are as follows:

September 21, Soft-Spoken: This program will feature LCCE flutist Stacey Pelinka, who will begin her program with the world premiere of a solo flute composition by David Dominique entitled “Soft-Spoken.” This will be followed by Laurie San Martin’s “Zeppelin,” a duo for flute and cello. The cellist will be Leighton Fong; and, at the end of the program, the two of them will be joined by violist Kurt Rohde for a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 25 serenade in D major. Rohde will also contribute two song remixes from two different centuries. The earlier selection will be a setting of the “Ave Maria” prayer by Hildegard of Bingen. This will be coupled with Joni Mitchell’s “Blue.”

November 9, Please Elaborate: The is a program of music by composers reflecting on past works. The “bookends” of the program involve Benjamin Britten compositions inspired by the music of John Dowland. “Come Heavy Sleep” inspired Britten’s “Nocturnal” for solo guitar. The program will then conclude with Britten’s “Lachrymae” for viola and piano, based on Dowland’s “If my complaints could passions move.” The “core” of the program will be taken by Eleanor Alberga. Her “Oh Chaconne!” is a reflection on the chaconne movement that concludes Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 1004 solo violin partita in D minor. Her “No Man’s Land Lullaby,” on the other hand is derived from Johannes Brahms’ “Wiegenlied” (lullaby), the fourth in his Opus 49 set of five songs.

January 25, Long Distance Call: In response to the safety measures required in the pandemic, LCCE has commissioned new works conceived as long distance conversations between a soprano and a trio consisting of flute, cello, and piano. The two contributing composers will be Laura Rose Schwartz and Ryan Suleiman. The vocalist will be Nikki Einfeld, and pianist Allegra Chapman will be joined by Pelinka and Fong. The instrumentalists will also perform Louise Farrenc’s Opus 45 trio. Pelinka will be featured in George Lewis’ “Emergent,” scored for flute and live electronics. Finally, there will be a performance of Frederic Rzewski’s “Coming Together” by the full ensemble with narration by Einfeld.

March 22, Metamorphosen: This program will feature all of the LCCE string players: violinists Phyllis Kamrin and Presler, violists Matilda Hofman and Rohde, cellists Tanya Tomkins and Fong, and Michel Taddei on bass. The program is named after the composition by Richard Strauss that they will perform as an ensemble. In addition, the two cellists will give the world premiere performance of a new work for two cellos by Nina Shekhar. The program will begin with Rohde as soloist in Derek Bermel’s concerto for viola and chamber ensemble entitled “Soul Garden.”

June 7, Sonic Luxury: This final instrumentalist to be featured will be clarinetist Jerome Simas. He will be joined by Presler, Rohde, Tomkins, and Eric Zivian on piano for a performance of Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s Opus 10 quintet in F-sharp minor. He and Zivian will also perform Esa-Pekka Salonen’s “Nachtlieder.” Zivian will play Clara Schumann’s Opus 20 set of variations on a theme by her husband Robert. The program will begin with the first piano quintet by Grażyna Bacewicz.